Torque free valve assembly

ABSTRACT

A valve housing with a fluid inlet and fluid outlet and a valve seat in a passageway therebetween. A seal mount in the passageway, with a bib-washer thereon to engage the valve seat, and with an O-ring thereon to prevent leakage from the housing along the valve operating stem. A split ring freely received on a groove in the stem and snugly received in a bore on the seal mount for connection therebetween, permitting free-floating seal action and torque-free stem rotation for valve operation.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Charles J. Manville Saint PetersburgBeach, Fla. [21] Appl. No. 727,616 [22] Filed May 8, 1968 [45] PatentedJan.5, 1971 [73] Assignee Manville Manufacturing Corporation Pontiac,Mich. a corporation of Michigan [54] TORQUE FREE VALVE ASSEMBLY 1 Claim,5 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 251/88, 137/559 [51] Int. Cl. ..F16k 25/00, F16k 37/00 [50]Field ofSearch 251/288; 137/559 [56] References Cited UNITED STATESPATENTS 123,584 2/1872 Shriver.. 251/88 1,111,391 9/1914 Kneass 251/861,694,595 12/1928 Howard 251/88 12/1930 Dopp 251/88 6/1944 Briggs...251/88 3/1959 Snider..... 251/88 8/1965 Skinner 25 l/357X 3/1966Pecis.... 137/556 8/1958 Henry 25l/88X FORElGN PATENTS l/l96l GreatBritain 251/88 12/1959 Switzerland 251/88 4/1951 France 251/88 PrimaryExaminerl-lenry T. Klinksiek Attorney-Woodard, Weikart, Emhardt &Naughton TORQUE FREE VALVE ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Fieldof the Invention This invention relates generally to fluid flow controlsand more particularly to valves capable of virtually complete openingand closure.

2. Description of the Prior Art Various efforts have been made toprovide good sealing and minimal wear in valves. Some examples ofresults disclosed in patents are as follows:

2,704,650 Rand Mar. 22, 1955 2,893,687 I-luthsing Jul. 7, 1959 2,952,439Koons Sept. 13, I960 3,199,833 Skinner Aug. 1965.

In spite of the prior art efforts, there has remained a need for apractical, low-cost, long-wearing valve assembly. It is submitted thatthe present invention meets this need.

SUMMARY Described briefly, in a typical embodiment of the presentinvention, a valve stem is provided with' a seal mount thereon,employing a split ring freely rotatable in a groove of the stem andfrictionally secured in a bore of the seal mount. The seal mount has abib-washer mounted thereon for valve operation, and an O-ring sealthereon for prevention of leakage past the stem.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF TI-IE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a vertical section througha valve assembly illustrating a typical embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the stem and seal mount, the latter beingshown in vertical section.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view similar to FIG. 2 but illustrating analternative construction.

FIG. 4 is a view of a snap ring typically used.

FIG. 5 is a stem end member for use without bib-washer.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERREDEMBODIMENTS In FIG. I, a valve body orhousing 11 is provided with an inlet 12 and an outlet 13, with asuitable passageway communicating between the inlet and outlet. Such anarrangement could be used in any fluid conveying system, but typicallyis applied to hot and cold water plumbing fixtures. A valve seat unit 14is threadedly received in the housing 11 and includes the annular valveseat surface 16, the central port 17 per mitting passage of water fromthe inlet to the outlet when the valve is open.

A valve stem 18 is provided with suitable threads 19 thereon received inthe member 21 threadedly received in the top of the housing 11 andseated at the shoulder 22. An appropriate knob 23 is mounted on the topofthe stern and a knurled, splined, or otherwise shaped surface 24 isprovided on the stem to mate with the knob and prevent relative rotationtherebetween. A suitable screw 26 secures the knob on the stem.

According to one feature of the present invention, a member 27 ismounted to the stem 18 in a floating manner. This member includes anO-ring seal 28 in a cylindrical groove thereon, and a bib-washer 29 atthe lower end thereof. The bib-washer is disposed to engage and seal onthe seat 16 as the stem moves downwardly during rotation thereof byoperation of the knob. At the same time, the O-ring 28 sealingly engagesand moves along the sealing bore 31 in the housing to prevent anyleakage of water up along the stem.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the stem 18 is provided with two annulargrooves near its lower end. An O-ring 32 is provided in the upper one ofthese grooves, and a snap ring 33 is provided in the lower one of thesegrooves. A diametral clearance is provided between the stem and the bore34 in the member 27 so that the member 27 is able to rock to a limitedextent back and forth in the direction of the arrows 36, with respect tothe stem. I

The bib-washer 29 is received on the stud 37 projecting from the lowerend of member 27, and is retained by the knob 38 thereon. A washer 39 ispiloted on the cylindrical surface 41 of member 27 and receives theouter peripheral surface 42 of the bib-washer within the downwardlyturned cylindrical flange 43 of the washer.

Because the member 27, the stud 37 and knob thereon, are all of onehomogeneous material/there is no possibility for leakage past the sealwasher 29 once it is closed on the seat 16. Excellent seating on theseat is assured by the fact that the member 27 to which the seal washer29 is mounted can not only rock on the stem as described briefly above,but it can also advance onto the seat without rotation, as the stem isrotated to advance it onto the seat. The features of the illustratedembodiment making this possible will now be described in more detail.

Referring to FIG. 4, a simple split ring 33 of circular cross section isshown. This is the ring employed in the lower groove on the stem. Therounded lower end of the stem at 44 facilitates installation of thisring and also further enables the free floating rocking action of themember 27 on the stem. This ring is of such diameter that .it must beradially compressed somewhat in order to enter the bore 34 in member 27.The amount of compression is not necessarily enough to close the gap 46between the ends of the ring but is enough to hold the ring securely inthe member 27. Before mounting the ring in member 27, the ring ismounted in the groove on the stem and then the stem is pushed into placeas shown in FIG. 2. Although the ring radially contracts as it is movedinto the bore 34, it never becomes snug in the bottom of the groove.That is to say that it never is compressed sufficiently to tightlyengage the stem in a radial direction. Consequently, although the stemis securely retained in the member 27, and vice versa,

the member 27 is freely rotatable on the stem. There is virtually zeroresistance to such rotation. Moreover, because of the radial clearancebetween the stem and the bore, the rocking action can occur and therounded cross section of the snap ring 33 facilitates this action. I

The above described features enable the axial movement of the bib-washeronto and away from the seat 16 without rotation of the bib-washer, so itdoes not twist or scrub on the seat. A long life of the seat and thebib-washer is a natural result. Reliable seating is also a naturalresult. Moreover, it is possible to delete the bib-washer and use alower face of the member 27 itself to sealingly engage the seat 16. Anexample of this is in FIG. 5 wherein face 47 of member 27a seals on seat16.

An additional'advantage is the fact that the O-ring seal 28 moves onlyaxially and not in rotation, so that it does not twist in the bore 31and its life is prolonged. I,

Because the stem end member 27 is so free to rock and rotate on thestem, an O-ring 32 is provided in the additional groove in the valvestem. This O-ring provides a small amount of resistance to rotation ofthe stem 18 so that a slight torque can be felt, and it eliminates thepossibility of vibration of the member 27 on the stem. It also can holdgrease in the pocket 46 for lubrication of the snap ringin the stemgroove. Addition of O-ring 32 does not cause rotation of the member 27in the valve housing as the stem is turned, so the member 27 continuesto function as described above, without any rotation of seal 28 or seal29.

FIG. 3 shows the stem and seal mount 27 without the O-ring 32, for thoseinstallations where zero torque on the stem is considered satisfactoryor preferable. Otherwise the structure of FIG. 3 is the same as that ofFIG. 2.

By way of example, materials of the various parts may be brass for thestem, nut 21, replaceable seat 14, and washer 39; chrome plated Cycolacsynthetic resin for knob 23; sulfurfree synthetic rubber for the O-ringsand for the bib-washer; and a temperature-stable, nonabsorbent syntheticresin such as chlorinated polyvinyl chloride for the member 27 to whichthe seals are mounted.

In the event it ever becomes necessary to replace a bibwasher, all thatis necessary isto simply pull the member 27 off the end of the stem, andreplace it as a unit, complete with bib-washer and O-rings. No tools arerequired for this.

The member 27 may be made of synthetic resin, which facilitates use ofcolors therein. A red plastic material may be used for the hot water andblue for the cold water. This can facilitate identification of stem andwasher assemblies if the stem for the cold water valve is to have aleft-hand thread thereon as in FIG. 1, and that for a hot water valve isto have a right-hand thread thereon as in FIGS. 2 and 3.

I claim:

1. A valve assembly comprising:

a valve stem;

a stem end member received on said stem and rotatable with respectthereto on the longitudinal axis thereof, a portion of said stem beingreceived in a cylindrical bore in

1. A valve assembly comprising: a valve stem; a stem end member receivedon said stem and rotatable with respect thereto on the longitudinal axisthereof, a portion of said stem being received in a cylindrical bore insaid end member; said stem having a first annular groove therein; a snapring loosely received in said groove and snugly received in said bore,to retain said end member on said stem while permitting free rotation ofsaid end member on said stem; said stem having a second annular groovetherein; and a resilient member received in said second groove andengaging both said stem and said bore to establish a desired amount ofresistance to movement of said end member on said stem.